Irina Park
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish Ph.D. student at Tufts University, has been released from federal immigration detention. On May 9, at a hearing at the Federal District Court in Vermont, Judge William K. Sessions III ordered Ozturk’s immediate release from detention, pending a final decision on her politically-motivated deportation.
Her detention occurred during a broader State Department crackdown on anti-imperialist activists through detention and attempted deportation without warrants or criminal charges after she co-wrote a pro-Palestinian op-ed that criticized Tufts University’s response to the US-Zionist genocide in Gaza—the only “evidence” against her cited by the State Department. Rumeysa Ozturk’s supporters cheered “She is free!” at a news conference held by her attorneys upon her release May 9.
Ozturk was abducted six weeks ago outside of her residence by immigration officers in plain clothes and had been detained at an immigration facility in Louisiana since. A State Department memo said that Ozturk’s visa had been revoked for actions that “undermine U.S. foreign policy and indicating support for a designated terrorist organization” and a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in March that Ozturk engaged in activities supporting Hamas, without providing evidence—a common refrain of the ultra-reactionary Trump administration, which uses “support” not in the sense of legal sense of material support for a terrorist-designated organization, but in the political and moral sense of supporting the Palestinian national liberation struggle and opposing US imperialist aggression.
On April 18, Judge Sessions determined that he would hear Ozturk’s request to be released in Vermont and ordered that she must be transferred back to Vermont from Louisiana. The Justice Department argued Louisiana had jurisdiction.
An immigration judge in Louisiana initially denied her request for bond in April citing that she was a “danger and flight risk”. Federal judge Sessions stated the government offered no evidence as to why Ozturk was arrested other than the op-ed she co-authored and raised concerns about her First Amendment and due process rights, as well as her physical health as she has had 12 asthma attacks since her detention.
This is the second decision in recent weeks of federal judges ordering the release of students and activists, in particular those with ties to the Palestine Solidarity Movement. Last week, Columbia University student and Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi was ordered to be released by a judge after being detained in a facility in Vermont. Mahmoud Khalil, who was abducted by immigration officials and detained in March, remains in a Louisiana detention facility without charges. A judge recently determined that the Trump administration must provide evidence to defend the legal basis for his deportation.
Image: Ozturk after her release with her lawyer Mahsa Khanbaba, photo by Ruymesa Ozturk legal team
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